Career

So, there I was. Listening in on an fascinating conversation online with one of the business world's most well known thought-leaders*, some of his most famous books on the shelf above my desk as I soaked in his words coming through the speakers of my computer.

You know you've seen it. That cringe-worthy photo from your friend's beach vacation that he's using as his LinkedIn profile photo. "What in the world is he thinking?" you asked yourself. "I'd never use a photo like that to represent myself online." Really, Ms. Look-at-me-and-my-super-cute-puppy?

Ah, the challenge online. How to appear that you fit in while also appearing to stand out from the crowd. We really work hard to think of just the right words to use to let others know how irresistibly awesome we are. It appears that many others believe they are as irresistible as we are and are using the exact same terms in their LinkedIn profiles.

Rod asks: "I see that I'm able to see some people's full LinkedIn profiles when clicking on their link, but when clicking on the link to my own profile, I see very little information. Do I need to have a paid membership to have everything visible"

If you're a professional or business person, you know you need to be using LinkedIn wisely, right? And, college students, that goes for you, too. If you don't know why it matters or know deep-down in the pit of your stomach that you're really not all that sure what to do with LinkedIn, then this is for you......

So you think LinkedIn isn't as sexy as Twitter, Facebook or other networking sites? I encourage you to think again. If providing the most powerful professional networking and job search platform around is sexy, then I'd say it's pretty sexy.
And, it just got a little sexier in that you can now show off your best assets more prominently. No, I'm not talking about push-up bras; the change I'm talking about allows you to bring more attention to your professional assets.

After my post on 11 Sure-Fire Ways to Get Me to Unfollow You on Twitter, many asked that I put together some tips highlighting the best way to get started on Twitter. I'm very happy to oblige. Here are several recommendations to get your started...

There was a time when a recommendation from your mother that you were a real catch was enough of an objective opinion to satisfy others' due diligence to determine if you were all thumbs up and downyou claimed to be. Following the time when Mom's praise was enough and prior to today, there was also a time,when customer testimonials printed on marketing brochures were all the evidence we needed to know you were the bee's knees.

Let's give a quick shout-out to Mom, who taught us many important lessons. Even though she may have exaggerated a bit when she said we'd ruin our eyes if we held them cross-eyed forYou're invited too long and that sitting too close to the TV would rot our brains, she was right about a lot. Remembering the value of using good manners and being respectful of others were two of the lessons which have stood the test of time.

You meet someone at a conference or a networking event and want to stay in touch. You exchange business cards and decide to connect on LinkedIn.? She asks for the link to your profile on LinkedIn so she can send you an invitation to connect. If you reply begins with, “Uh, well…” don’t worry. Help [...]